# Urinal Spitting ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 3, 1999, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475 "1999-11-03T01:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doctordec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Doctordec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctordec)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/1 "1999-11-03T01:45:00Z")
Why do most men spit in the urinal before they use it ? I travel a lot and use public facilities and I’d say better than fifty percent of guys do this and I think nearly all of them don’t spit anywhere else outside or inside. ---
**Author:** ![TheRugrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@TheRugrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheRugrat)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/2 "1999-11-03T01:57:00Z")
I can give you one reason. I live in Ottawa, Canada. One of the suburbs around here (Kanata) has passed a law that makes it a crime to spit in the street. So, around here, the urinal is one of the last places left to spit in. * * * If at first you don’t succeed, use a sldgehammer. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/3 "1999-11-03T02:09:00Z")
Because it’s there… * * * Yer pal, Satan ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/4 "1999-11-03T02:14:00Z")
It’s that or the floor and I like to watch it swirl around. Kidding! ---
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/5 "1999-11-03T02:49:00Z")
When marking territory, I like to mix up the signals a little bit. * * * Come to kindly terms with your ass, for it bears you. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/6 "1999-11-03T03:04:00Z")
Don’t know. Men spit in puddles a lot too. Some kind of primal urge? It sure ain’t 'cause you don’t have anywhere else to spit. Peace, mangeorge * * * Work like you don’t need the money… Love like you’ve never been hurt… Dance like nobody’s watching! …(Paraphrased) ---
**Author:** ![Mazey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mazey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mazey)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/7 "1999-11-03T03:34:00Z")
Men are spitting in urinals instead of on public streets? This is simply outRAGEOUS!!! :o ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/8 "1999-11-03T03:42:00Z")
I guess wherever there is water, they see their image. . .but what they _ **want** _ to see is there _ **spittin’** _ image. 😉 Ray (just a reflection. . .hope it didn’t miss the mark) ---
**Author:** ![floordog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e8cbc/32.png) [@floordog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/floordog)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/9 "1999-11-03T04:02:00Z")
as not to offend the fairer sex…although sometimes it is hard to resist trying for accuracy with a puddle ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Thin_Skin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/10 "1999-11-03T13:32:00Z")
Just a WAG: It’s some sort of conditioned response. You spit in the toilet/urinal because you spit in the toilet/urinal. It’s one of the few places you may spit. Men get their disgusting (to some) activities out of the way in the privacy of the toilet. Blowing nose, letting out pent up farts, and clearing mucus from throat/nasal cavity. So, spitting is there as well. At first I thought it might be a Pavlovian response to the yummy smelling urinal disk, but I reconsidered that idea. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/11 "1999-11-03T13:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Why do most men spit in the urinal before they use it ? Most men? I have rarely seen anyone spit in the urinal. I guess I frequent a higher class of toilets. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/12 "1999-11-03T14:15:00Z")
Target practice. I try to see if I can get the streams to cross. 🙂 When I was real little, I liked using my dad’s bathroom, 'cause he almost always left a cigarette butt unflushed. Then I’d do target practice with it. Weird, but it probably helped toilet train me. Real answer: after spending a whole day swallowing saliva/post-nasal drip/etc, when I get the chance to spit, I do. The urinal is basically the only outlet. If I’m out in the woods and alone, I spit everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Timothy\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Timothy\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timothy_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/13 "1999-11-03T14:22:00Z")
I think there’s a micro-cultural connection, here. Like RealityChuck, I can’t recall _\ever\_ seeing a man spit in a urinal. Not even when I was in high school. Maybe the men here in Montréal are just a bit more classy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Thin_Skin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/14 "1999-11-03T14:52:00Z")
I think it’s like fire plugs: You don’t notice them until you house burns down. You are all (males) now cursed to notice persons spitting. ---
**Author:** ![Stevie\_Rave\_On](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Stevie\_Rave\_On](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stevie_Rave_On)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/15 "1999-11-03T15:59:00Z")
AWB, I used to do that with my dad’s unflushed cigarette butts, too. I drink a ton of water a day, so I must spend 1/2 hour of my 8 hour workday standing in front of the urinal. I’d say about 75% of the guys that work on my floor with will spit, and I’ve always wondered why, too. Also, about 50% will flush the urinal before starting to piss, even though it’s empty. Sadly, only 25% will wash their hands ☹ Scumbags! ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/16 "1999-11-03T16:19:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Sadly, only 25% will wash their hands Scumbags! Hmmm reminds me of the OLD joke about the Army man and the Air Force man taking a pee. Army man doesn’t wash his hands. Air Force man: They teach us to wash our hands in the Air Force. Army man: They teach us not to pee on our hands in the Army. Enright3 ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/17 "1999-11-03T16:19:00Z")
Oh. I thought this was about urinals that sort of ‘spit’ your pee back at you when you pee. Cause your pee stream hits the back of the urinal. nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/18 "1999-11-03T16:24:00Z")
Nanobyte: LOL!! Thanks for the smile. Foghead: Aaarrrgg. Thanks for ruining my smile. * * * _The best lack all conviction The worst are full of passionate intensity_ ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/19 "1999-11-04T00:29:00Z")
Timothy Campbell: I think there’s a micro-cultural connection, here. Like RealityChuck, I can’t recall ever seeing a man spit in a urinal. Not even when I was in high school. Tim, don’t you know the bathroom etiquette for urinals? You don’t look at the other men. Now for a great test for urinal etiquite, download the file linked from the image. The file requires Shockwave Flash on your computer. Most men will find this hilarious. [\“Right](http://members.theglobe.com/Sonic62/sd/urinal.exe) ---
**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475/20 "1999-11-04T01:16:00Z")
Gentle Readers - I have deleted three posts from this thread. Two were from members engaged in a battle of words more properly contained in the BBQ Pit, and one of my own reprimanding the first poster. ## Let us please show some respect and courtesy for our fellow members by refraining from personal attacks. If you must flame, please do it in the pit. Nickrz GQ Mod [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-spitting/4475.md?page=2)